Door-hanger.



D. E. WILLARD.

DOOR HANGER.

APPLICATION FILED .IULY 6, 1915.

Patented 0c 2 SHEETS-SHEET I. @if

IIIIII EIIIIIIIIIIU IIIIIIIIIIIIIII CULUMBIA PLANDURAPH ce., WASH D. E. WILLARD.

DOOR HANGER.

APPLICATION Hummm/6.1915.

1,155,390. Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CULUMBIA PLANDGDAPH C0.. WASHINGTON, D C.

:DONALD n. W'ILLARD, .or DNvrLLE, ILLrNoIs.

Doon-HANGER.

rit-rasee.

y :Application filed July 6, 1915. Serial'No. 38,998.

To all whom it may concern: f i

- Be it known. that I, DONALD E. WILLARD, a citizen of the Unitedy States, residing in Danville, county ofVermilion, State of llinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lDoor-I-Iangersof which the following is a specification. .y

My invention `relates to hangers forislid'- ing doors and ymoreparticularly to that class of doors that are opened and closed bya combination of sliding and folding movements and which are commonly' ytermed accordion doors. These doors are generally arranged in two sets, each set comprisingya plurality of doors horizontally connected together, the vbase member being hinged to a door post. So arranged,these doors may be made to close a. wide-space and becauseof their number and weight andthe plurality of movements by which they are operated, they require specially-adapted hangers not only adequate to [support the weight, but of suchconstruction that the folding and sliding movement of the doors maybe accomplished without edgewise tilting of the doors themselves and without undue `friction due to twisting ordisplacement of the hangers. To these ends I have provided a special form of hanger-which is of thetrolley type; that is,` it has two pairs of track wheels mounted in tandem on a Vrigid frame, lthe frame supporting apendant member 'to be connected to the upper edges of the doors. This construction necessitates twotrackways. This track may be of any desired form. I have chosen, for the purpose fof illustration, a sheet metal trackofrectangular tubular form having its lower "wall severed and the opposed edges upturned to provide parallel trackways.

Other features of my invention relate to the construction fand arrangement of the suspension bolt or pendant member and to the provision of guide rollers for preventing the twisting or wedgingof the track wheels inthetracks.,A

, Anotherfeature of invention relates to the provision 4of a suitable anti-friction bearing on which ythe door is supported and turns. i i In the accompanying drawings-Figure 1 is a side view of the hanger proper showing the upper edge of the door in section. Fig. 2 isfan end view of the hanger showing the track inr section, the supporting Aiiange of 1 the hanger being; broken away. Fig.. 3ds

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

a horizontal attaching yiange ture through which the suspension bolt raient-ea oet. 5,3915.

likewise an end elevation of the hanger showingparts thereof in vertical section. Fig. d illustrates a modi-fied application of the hanger tothe corner of the door. Fig. 5 lsan elevation showing the twosets of doors, one set being folded and a portion of the framework above the doorway being broken away. Figs. 5A and are diagrammatic views inv plan," Fig. 5^.sliowing rthe doors extended and Fig. 5B Vshowingthe doors folded, the dotted lines showing thev intermediate positions. Y

I n the drawings 6 represents the track which is composed of sheet metal and which is of substantially rectangular tubular form, the edges of the sheetbeing upturned as at 8 to provide the trackways 9. This track is supported in a bracket member 7 having 7a. The hanger is in the form of a rigid open castingl lO in which is `i'ournaled the track wheels 11 on shafts 12 which are mounted in bearings or journals in the upper outer corners of said frame 10 and are provided preferably with balls or rollers 13. The hanger body 10 has rthe top bar 14, bottom bar 16, and side bars 15, 17. Bottom bar 16 is provided with an enlarged opening 19 surrounded by a cup-shaped casing having the bottom wall 20 and the side walls 21.

22 represents ay bushing providedv in an a.

enlarged aperture in they top bar 14, the

14 being of such width as to Vpermitxthe, in-` sertion of thesuspension bolt 24e. he lower portionof the latter isfthreaded and the portionf25 is enlarged into a bearingmember or shoulder 26 while its upper end is reduced as shown at 27 and is fitted tothe bushing 22. Within the cup casing, is mounted the raceway 30 coiitainingr ball bearings 31, `the raceway being provided -with a cover plate 32 andthe downwardlyprojecting flange 33. Tt will be seen `that the suspension bolt takes bearing by the shoulder 26 kon the anti-friction element so that the weight of the doors *is transferred thereto, and thatthe bolt has an enlarged shoulder'; which bears upon the bushing element 22. The casting 10 is also provided withv the lugs 35 on the side bars 15, 17, in which are journaled vertically-disposed roliers 3G. A plate- 37, is secured to thetop edges of the doorsl and has a-threaded aperpasses.

38 represents the wood screws for securing the plate to the edgecf the door which is preferably let into a recess'89 inthe edge of the door,7 the latter being also lprovided with the vertical socket or recess 40 into which the end of the `suspension bolt .24'

works. i

41 represents alock nut by means .of

I. which the suspension bolt is adjustably se vcured against rotation in the plate 37.

v`The sides of the threaded'pcrtion of the bolt 24, are preferably flattened as shown at 42 to permit of the application of a suitable tool for turning the'bolt in thethreads of suspension bolt or pendant also 'has a bear Ving in the top bar of the hanger. From this it results that theweight ofthe doors is supported lwell below thewheels and that the doorsvandv bolt member swivel freely on the Y antifriction bearing in the Vbottom member of the hanger body, while the suspension bolt also has a'bearing inthe tcpA cross-'bar of 'the hanger which thus servcs'as the drivp ing member ofthe rhanger when the dooris being opened or closed. Thus friction in the turning or folding vmovement of the'doors is largely reduced and the weight being car.u ried well below the wheels tends to keepzthe latter in Contact with the track and prevents edgewise tilting, while the bearingA of; the

suspensionbolt inthe upper cross-bar like- .wise tends to steadythe action.

'i to prevent the twisting of the hanger'inthe Y l; traclways and to 'insure theirv moving in right lines. For.thispiirposer the rollers 36` are disposed on'opposite sides of the hanger and are so disposed as to contact with Vthe trackway's" should any twisting tendency develop.'l A further purpose subserved by these rollersis tofcounteract thrust 'at an angle to theplanel of thedoor from whateverfcause, such as wind pressure and crampf Ving due to theopening Yand closing .of the doors( f v I am aware that it is Ynot `new'to employ steadying or. thrust rollers, but it is desirable'lwith a construction such asiI have illustrated to provide against thrust inV eitherfdirection, and while I haveV shown rollers ar'- frangedin pairs for this purpose it'w is obvious. that Ya single .roller placed between, making contact with the traclrways on either side'would serve the purpose.

Inv Fig. 4 I have shown a slightly modie'dconstruction inwh-ich the hanger is conlnected tothe corner of the doork instead of atan intermediate point between itsedges'.

Iny this case the supension plate 43 is of an'gle'form and issecured to the top and one side edge of the door, the latter being notched in its vertical edge 45 to receive the suspension bolt and recessed ony its upper edge as at 46 to receive the plate. Thezsame Vform of construction may be employed for suspending the'door near one edge by pro-y Y viding an aperture as shownat 50 to receive the stem ofthe bolt. An anchor 47 .may` be let Vinto the door and Vprovidedwith an, aperture 48 to receive the fastening or anchor las shown in Fig. 5 the doors A are ar-Y ranged in twol sets' each comprisingthree main doers A and arbase member the latter being hinged to the door posts. f The upper-frame cfzthedoor betweenfthe points C-D is broken away'to show the applica'-` tion of the hanger but vas this will'varywith tlie'diiferent situations it need-'not begparticularly described. It will -be sufficient 'or- -V dinarily to applya hanger to each alternate door as shown inV Fig. S5 and with the con struction which I havejdescribed it'will be found that these hangers are adapted to sup-r port any number or weight of doors desirably used. The provision of a suspension bolt withathreaded slianlqa suspension Vplateand loclr nut affords'a'ready-means of adjusting and alining the parts without 1n1- terfering in any wayf'with the free swivel movement of theV suspension bolt and the i doors upon the hanger.`

I/Vliile Ir have shown atrack ofv peculiar type, it isvobvious that other constructions f ofi'track7 such as the" wellknown tubular type7 maybe used,xin whiclicase the form Y l of the bracket may be modified accordingly.` The function of the' vertical rollersj is4 Itis within the scope of my invention to vino'difythe structure, particularly withr relation-to thelocation of the an'tifriction or swivel bearing since the essential character- T istie of, myinvention` isthe provision of a hanger Awhich 1sV adapted vto permit the swivelingmovement and also will afford a rigid driving connectionV between the `bolt Y employ aswiveling or antifriction connection and a driving connectionr located inthe same, or approximately Athe saine, plane-in other words to apply the driving connection tothe turningrnember of the antifrictiron bearing, but vmy invention is distinguished fromV this in that thejswivel connection and the driving connectionV areV separatedl from each other and therefore avoids the tilting or rocking of the rotatable member of the antifriction bearing.

I claim:

l. A hanger for sliding folding doors comprising a hanger frame, track wheels, and a suspension bolt, the latter having driving connection with the hanger frame at its upper portion and a bearing support upon the hanger frame below the track wheels, substantially as described.

2. A door hanger comprising in combination a hanger frame, two pairs of track wheels mounted thereon in tandem, a track member having two separated parallel trackways, a suspension member rotatably' mounted in the hanger frame and havingr a horizontally-disposed swivel bearing therein, and a driving connection therewith, the swivel bearing and the driving connection being separated from each other and the suspension member being adapted for connection to the door, substantially as described. f

8. A door hanger comprising in combination a hanger frame having upper and lower frame elements, two pairs of track wheels journaled in said frame, a suspension member rotatably mounted within the frame and having a bearing in the upper of theframe members, the lower frame member having a horizontally-disposed antifriction bearing and the suspension member resting thereon, means for connecting the door to the suspension member, and means for locking the suspension member with relation to the door, substantially as described. Y

fl. A door hanger having a hanger frame, two pairs of wheels mounted therein in tandem relation, a track having separated track ways for the wheels, a suspension element rotatably mounted in the hanger frame and depending between said trackways and having separate driving and swiveling connections with the frame, and steadying rollers mounted on the frame and adapted to engage the track ways.

5. An adjustable door hanger comprising a rigid frame, two pairs of wheels in tandem carried by said frame, an attaching plate adapted to be secured to a door and provided withV an aperture therethrough, a suspension bolt rotatably mounted in the frame and provided with separated drivingk and swiveling connections therewith and having a threadedfconnection with the attaching plate, and aflock nut applied to the suspension bolt whereby to prevent rotative movement of same with respect to said plate f when adjusted.

6. In a hanger for accordion doors thel combination with parallel trackways of a hanger comprising a rigid body and two combination with spaced apart parallel` track ways of a hanger having track wheels adapted to travel on said track, a suspension member rotatably mounted in the hanger 'between the pairs of lwheels and having an antifriction bearing on the hanger bodyl be low the track wheels, and vertical rollers disposed onA opposite sides of the suspension member and adapted to contact the edges of the trackways, substantially as described.

8. A hanger for accordion doors comprising a rigid hanger body, two pairs of wheels mounted in tandem near the ends of said body, a suspension bolt rotatably engaging the hanger above the wheel axles and depending therebetween and having an antifriction bearing on the hanger body below the wheel axles.

DONALD n. wrLLiinD.

Witnesses W. W. GROUSE, B. E. BAILEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

